Running Scheme
This page is organized as follows:
Running Scheme on Departmental Unix Machines
The departmental Unix machines are the recommended platforms for course work.
This section is organized as follows:
We recommend using the DrScheme development environment in 342. This web page gives information about other Scheme systems, including Chez Scheme and SCM, which you can also use if you wish, but DrScheme should be enough for the course.
Starting DrScheme
The DrScheme system can be used either on the department Linux machines, or you can download it to your home machine. There are versions for both Macs and PCs running Windows, as well as Solaris. If you download it for your home machine, see the Getting Other Stuff for your Home Machine section below for details.
On the department Linux machines, the interpreter is found in /opt/plt/bin, so you must have the appropriate directory in your shell PATH for the interpreters to work. (But this is the default on the department servers, so you shouldn't have to do anything special to set this up.)
On Unix, you can start the DrScheme system by using the following command at the Unix Shell's prompt:
$ drscheme
Note: In code examples, green text is program output, yellow bold text is user input, and cyan text is sample code.
and then hit the "return" (or enter) key. Be sure your input is in lower case (not CAPITALIZED). You should see a window pop up to load the system.
If you see the error message "DISPLAY environment variable not set and no -display argument", this occurs because you are using ssh to access a department machine and you have not forwarded the X windows connection to the machine you are connecting from. The simplest fix for this is to run DrScheme directly on the machine you are on, instead of remotely on another machine via ssh. If you have a home computer, you can install the DrScheme system on that machine. If you don't have your own machine, come in to the department where DrScheme is installed on the machines and use it locally. Or you can forward the X windows connection, for example by using ssh -X to connect.
The first time you use DrScheme, you will see a window asking what language you wish to interact in, and after you select your language and press the "next" button, you will see a dialog about checking for updates. You can skip this check, as we have the latest version installed.
Working with DrScheme
Selecting the Programming Language Dialect
Then a very important dialog comes up about selecting a (programming) language to work with. Most of these are simply dialects of Scheme. For this class you can start with the "Beginning Student" level as you first start to learn Scheme, but you will eventually need to use either the MzScheme or Typedscm languages. You can either select that now, or later from the "Language" menu.
We suggest selecting the "Typedscm" language. (However, note that this only works if the course library has been installed; for a home installation, see the library page.) To select the "Typedscm" language, open the "Language" menu, and Then select "Choose Language..." and from the resulting popup, select the language named "Typedscm, typed extension to EoPL(2e)".
Interacting with DrScheme
You can type expressions into the bottom frame of the window that appears next, at the > prompt. The top window is where you can type definitions. These can be run and saved in files. See the help menu, especially the "Help Desk" menu item, for more information. It's worth taking the "Tour" that appears under the heading "Software" to see what's in the system.
Making a Transcript in DrScheme
There are three ways to print a record of your session with the DrScheme interpreter. First you can select "Print Interactions..." from the File menu. Or you can select "Save Other" from the File menu, and then choose "Save Interactions as Text"; after doing this, print the text file as you would normally. Or, if you wish, you can copy and paste the text you want to print into a text file, and print that in whatever way you normally do that. Note that DrScheme does not support Scheme's "transcript-on" facility.
Loading Files
It is very convenient to put your code for Scheme programs in files, and have Scheme read those files. A standard way to have Scheme read a file is to use the "load" procedure. The advantage of this is that load can be called from a program; for example, you can have one file that loads several others. Another advantage is that you can use load after you have already started Scheme. An example of using load after starting Scheme is as follows:
> (load "foo.scm")
If your files have errors you will see an error message; for example,
> (load "foo.scm")
;loading foo.scm
"foo.scm", line 2: ERROR: list: end of file in (2)
is an error message that means that foo.scm is missing one or more right parentheses (a common mistake).
If the file contains a module, then instead of using load, you should use require, as in the following example.
> (require (lib "lambda-1-exp.scm" "lib342"))
In DrScheme, pressing the "Run" button loads the current text in the definitions part of the same DrScheme session window. To load text in other windows, be sure these files are saved first, then use load.
Other Interpreters
It's also possible to work with other interpreters for Scheme. In the past we have used the SCM interpreter and the Chez Scheme interpreter. Both of these are also available free for a variety of machines. However, at present only Chez Scheme works with the module noation used in the course.
Exiting
To exit Chez Scheme interpreter type:
> (exit)
or type your end-of-file character (control-d on Unix).
Making a Transcript
To record your session with a Chez Scheme in a file named trans.out, that is to put your inputs and its outputs in the file trans.out, type the following to Scheme:
> (transcript-on "trans.out")
This must be typed exactly as above, with the double quotes ("). To make a transcript in some other file, write that name instead of trans.out.
Scheme Advanced Topics
See the resources page for more about Scheme.
Editing Scheme Files
The easiest way to edit Scheme files is to use DrScheme itself. Simply open the file and edit in the window that appears.
You can also edit Scheme files externally to DrScheme, and load the file when needed. The following describes working with Emacs and other editors to do this, which is entirely optional.
Editing Scheme Files With Emacs
Of the standard Unix editors, emacs has the best support for Scheme programming (and for other programming languages also). In addition to matching parentheses (when you type ) it shows which ( matches it) for you, emacs knows how to indent Scheme programs to make them look good. But before emacs will do this for you, it must know that you are editing a Scheme program. The best way to tell emacs that you are editing a Scheme program is to use the customizations found in the file $PUB/docs/sample-.emacs.
Either copy that into your file "~/.emacs", or edit the relevant lines into your file "~/.emacs".
With the relevant customization of your file ~/.emacs, when you are editing a file whose name ends in ".scm" (or ".ss" or ".def") then that is a Scheme file.
Be sure that all your Scheme file names end in ".scm" ! For example "member.scm" is a good name, but not "homework".
To find out about scheme-mode in emacs, edit a scheme file and then type C-h m (that is, control-h and then "m"). You will see a table of commands that looks like the following (which has been simplified; what you see in emacs by typing C-h m is the truth).
key binding --- ------- RET newline-and-indent C-j newline C-c Prefix Command C-x Prefix Command ESC Prefix Command DEL backward-delete-char-untabify C-c C-k scheme-compile-file C-c C-l scheme-load-file C-c C-z switch-to-scheme C-c C-c scheme-compile-definition-and-go C-c C-r scheme-send-region C-c ESC Prefix Command C-c C-e scheme-send-definition C-x C-e scheme-send-last-sexp ESC C-x scheme-send-definition ESC C-q indent-sexp C-c ESC c scheme-compile-definition C-c ESC r scheme-send-region-and-go C-c ESC e scheme-send-definition-and-go
For example, if you type C-x C-e (control-x and then control-e), it sends the previous s-expression (a parentheses balanced thing you typed) to the Scheme process.
Interacting With Scheme From Emacs
To run Scheme from within Emacs, start emacs, and then use the command M-x run-scheme. (That is, press the ESC key, then x then at the prompt run-scheme ). This will create a buffer called *scheme*, which will be in "inferior scheme mode". You will soon see the scheme system starting, just as if you had run it directly from the shell. (The name of the command run is given by the Emacs variable "scheme-program-name".) You can type expressions at the prompt, and then by pressing "return", you will see them evaluated. To find out about inferior scheme mode in emacs, from the *scheme* buffer type C-h m. You will see a table of commands that includes those in the table above, and some additional ones.
key binding --- ------- DEL backward-delete-char-untabify C-x Prefix Command C-d comint-delchar-or-maybe-eof RET comint-send-input C-c Prefix Command C-down comint-next-input C-up comint-previous-input ESC Prefix Command C-x C-e scheme-send-last-sexp C-c C-k scheme-compile-file C-c C-d comint-send-eof C-c C-p comint-previous-prompt C-c C-n comint-next-prompt C-c C-l scheme-load-file C-c C-e comint-show-maximum-output C-c C-r comint-show-output C-c C-o comint-kill-output C-c RET comint-copy-old-input C-c C-\ comint-quit-subjob C-c C-z comint-stop-subjob C-c C-c comint-interrupt-subjob C-c C-w backward-kill-word C-c C-u comint-kill-input C-c C-a comint-bol-or-process-mark C-c C-x comint-get-next-from-history C-c SPC comint-accumulate C-c ESC Prefix Command ESC C-q indent-sexp ESC C-x scheme-send-definition ESC C-l comint-show-output ESC s comint-next-matching-input ESC r comint-previous-matching-input ESC n comint-next-input ESC p comint-previous-input
The basic addition is that when you type a return (RET), what you typed is sent to the Scheme interpreter. You can edit the input using emacs commands, but note that whatever is on a line at the time you type return (RET) is sent to Scheme, and is not affected by further editing. However you can go back up in the buffer and send an edited expression again by placing your cursor just to the right of the last right parentheses, and typing return. Another handy feature is to use M-p (ESC then "p") which recalls a previous input you typed; you can do this several times to get earlier inputs. These earlier inputs can also be edited.
You do not need to separately exit Scheme and emacs, as exiting emacs will kill Scheme. (However, if you are using emacs to run Scheme at home from within Microsoft windows, it is best to exit Scheme before exiting emacs.)
The Scheme running under emacs does not automatically know about changes you make to Scheme code files or other emacs Scheme buffers. You have to either explicitly load the file (use load-file in Scheme as described above), or use a scheme-send command (such as C-x C-e) in the buffer where you are editing your code. (Note that these have to be in the same emacs process)
Editing Scheme With VI (BZZT!)
If you don't already know how to use vi, please don't learn it. The vi editor does not know how to format Scheme code (or for that matter C++). If you must use vi, invoke it with the "-l" option, which will make it match parentheses for you.
You can also use your vi keystrokes in emacs. To do this, simply execute
M-x viper-mode RET
when in emacs. See also the emacs help by typing
M-x help-for-help i
and then select the topic "Viper Mode" for more information. This allows you to use vi's editing commands, but all the features of emacs. It also allows you to use the mouse in this emulation, something you can't really do in vi.
If you decide you want to use viper-mode in emacs all the time, put the following line in your .emacs file.
(viper-mode)
Running Scheme on Your Home Machine
Getting DrScheme for your Home Machine
The DrScheme system used for this course is available on many platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, Solaris, and several flavors of Unix.
Getting Other Stuff for your Home Machine
You need to get, and keep updated, your own copy of the course Scheme library and the homework files. See the course Scheme library page for details on how to do this.
Other Optional Stuff
To run shell scripts you may want to get Cygwin GNU software (bash, etc. for your home (Windows) machine. This is especially handy if you use SCM or Chez Scheme.
If you like editing with emacs, you can get GNU Emacs for Windows NT and Windows 95/98 for you home machine.
Last modified Wednesday, March 9, 2005.
This web page is for the Spring 2005 offering of Com S 342 at Iowa State University. The details of this course are subject to change as experience dictates. You will be informed of any changes. Thanks to Curtis Clifton for help with these web pages. Please direct any comments or questions to Gary T. Leavens.